JP2014172258A - Image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem in which a waste liquid sticks and solidifies on a wiping member for wiping a droplet for droplet discharge detection sticking on an electrode plate to cause a decrease in wiping performance.SOLUTION: A discharge detection unit 100 has an electrode plate 101 arranged outside a recording area, generates a potential difference between a nozzle face 41 of a recording head 4 and the electrode plate 101, and detects whether a droplet is discharged by detecting electric change of the electrode plate 101 caused when the droplet discharged from a nozzle of the recording head 4 is impacted on the electrode plate 101 while the nozzle face 41 of the recording head 4 is opposed to the electrode plate 101. Cleaning means 200 includes a cleaning member 202 which comes into contact with a surface of the electrode plate 101 to wipe away a droplet sticking on the surface of the electrode plate 101, and the cleaning member 202 has a cleaning part 203 which comes into contact with the surface of the electrode plate 101, and a guide part 204 which holds the cleaning part 203 and is fitted movably in guide grooves 110 formed in both side faces of a holder member 103 along a nozzle array direction (a sub-scanning direction).

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  As an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying apparatus, a plotter, and a complex machine of these, for example, an ink jet recording apparatus is known as an image forming apparatus of a liquid discharge recording method using a recording head for discharging ink droplets. .

  In such an image forming apparatus, a discharge detection device that detects a droplet discharge state from the head is provided, and when a nozzle that does not perform normal droplet discharge is detected, a head maintenance operation such as cleaning of the nozzle surface is performed. There is what I did.

  As a conventional ejection detection device, for example, ejection / non-ejection is detected by ejecting droplets from a recording head toward an electrode plate and measuring an electrical change when the droplets land on the electrode plate. What was made is known (patent document 1).

  In addition, there is also known one in which the electrode plate is cleaned by a wiping member that wipes in the same direction as the carriage movement direction (Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent No. 4735120 JP 2004-306475 A

  In the case where the presence or absence of discharge is detected by discharging a droplet onto the electrode plate as described above and reading an electrical change, the droplet adheres to the electrode plate as the discharge is detected. Here, the droplets ejected from each nozzle of the recording head for ejection detection are droplets having a minute droplet amount.

  Therefore, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, even if the wiping member is wiped in the same direction as the carriage movement direction, that is, the direction perpendicular to the nozzle arrangement direction of the recording head, the droplets on the electrode plate do not collect. , It adheres to a wiping member for every drop.

  As a result, the waste liquid of the liquid adhering to the wiping member is solidified, the wiping performance of the wiping member deteriorates with time, the electrode plate cannot be cleaned, and the discharge detection with high accuracy cannot be performed. There is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to suppress deterioration over time of the cleaning performance of the cleaning member.

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention provides:
A recording head having a plurality of nozzles for discharging droplets;
Discharge detection means for detecting the presence or absence of droplet discharge from the recording head, and
The discharge detection means includes
An electrode member disposed in a region facing the recording head and having droplets ejected from nozzles of the recording head landed;
A liquid droplet discharged from the nozzle of the recording head is applied to the electrode in a state where a potential difference is applied between the nozzle surface of the recording head and the electrode member, and the nozzle surface of the recording head is opposed to the electrode member. Detecting the electrical change of the electrode member that occurs when landing on the member, detecting the presence or absence of the droplet discharge,
A cleaning means for cleaning the electrode member of the discharge detection means;
The cleaning means includes
A cleaning member for removing the droplets attached to the electrode member;
The cleaning member is movably held by a holding member that holds the electrode member,
The electrode member moves in a direction parallel to the nozzle arrangement direction.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress deterioration over time of the cleaning performance of the cleaning member.

It is a plane explanatory view of a mechanism part of an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is a principal part side surface explanatory drawing similarly. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the recording head of the apparatus. It is side explanatory drawing similarly used for description of the attachment structure of a discharge detection unit. It is block explanatory drawing with which the outline | summary of the control part of the apparatus is provided. It is a block explanatory drawing used for description of the discharge detection part of the control part. It is a perspective explanatory view of the discharge detection unit in a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective explanatory view which looked at FIG. 7 from the opposite direction. It is front explanatory drawing similarly. It is a perspective explanatory view of the discharge detection unit in a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional explanatory drawing in alignment with the AA of FIG. It is a perspective explanatory view of the discharge detection unit in a 3rd embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view of the discharge detection unit in a 4th embodiment of the present invention. It is principal part side explanatory drawing of the discharge detection unit in 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective explanatory view of the discharge detection unit in a 6th embodiment of the present invention. It is side surface explanatory drawing explaining operation | movement of the wiper member in the discharge detection unit. It is side surface explanatory drawing explaining the discharge detection unit in 7th Embodiment of this invention with operation | movement of a wiper member. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the wiping operation | movement of a comparative example. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the wiping operation | movement of embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view of a mechanism portion of the image forming apparatus, and FIG.

  This image forming apparatus is a serial type ink jet recording apparatus, and a carriage 3 is movably held by a main guide member 1 and a sub guide member 2 which are horizontally mounted on left and right side plates (not shown). Then, the main scanning motor 5 reciprocates in the main scanning direction (carriage movement direction) via a timing belt 8 spanned between the driving pulley 6 and the driven pulley 7.

  The carriage 3 is mounted with recording heads 4a and 4b (referred to as “recording head 4” when not distinguished), which are liquid ejection heads. For example, the recording head 4 ejects ink droplets of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K). The recording head 4 is mounted with a nozzle row 4n composed of a plurality of nozzles arranged in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction and with the droplet discharge direction facing downward.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the recording head 4 has two nozzle rows Na and Nb in which a plurality of nozzles 4n are arranged. One nozzle row Na of the recording head 4a discharges black (K) droplets, and the other nozzle row Nb discharges cyan (C) droplets. One nozzle row Na of the recording head 4b discharges magenta (M) droplets, and the other nozzle row Nb discharges yellow (Y) droplets.

  As the liquid discharge head constituting the recording head 4, for example, a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element, or a thermal actuator that uses a phase change caused by liquid film boiling using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor can be used. .

  The carriage 3 is mounted with a head tank 40 that temporarily stores ink to be supplied to the recording head 4, and ink is supplied to the head tank 40 from an ink cartridge (main tank) (not shown).

  On the other hand, in order to transport the paper 10, a transport belt 12, which is transport means for electrostatically attracting the paper and transporting the paper at a position facing the recording head 4, is provided. The transport belt 12 is an endless belt and is stretched between the transport roller 13 and the tension roller 14.

  The transport belt 12 rotates in the sub-scanning direction when the transport roller 13 is rotationally driven by the sub-scanning motor 16 via the timing belt 17 and the timing pulley 18. The conveyor belt 12 is charged (charged) by the charging roller 31 while moving around.

  Further, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 20 that performs maintenance / recovery of the recording head 4 on the side of the conveyance belt 12 is arranged on one side of the carriage 3 in the main scanning direction, and the recording head 4 is arranged on the side of the conveyance belt 12 on the other side. The empty discharge receptacles 21 for performing empty discharge are respectively disposed.

  The maintenance / recovery mechanism 20 includes, for example, a cap member 20a for capping the nozzle surface (surface on which the nozzles are formed) of the recording head 4, a wiper member 20b for wiping the nozzle surface, and an empty space (not shown) for discharging liquid droplets that do not contribute to image formation. It consists of a discharge receptacle.

  The area outside the recording area between the conveying belt 12 and the maintenance / recovery mechanism 20 and capable of facing the recording head 4 is provided with a discharge detecting means and a cleaning means for detecting the presence or absence of droplet discharge according to the present invention. A discharge detection unit 100 including this is arranged.

  Further, an encoder scale 23 having a predetermined pattern is stretched between both side plates along the main scanning direction of the carriage 3, and the encoder sensor 24 is formed of a transmission type photosensor that reads the pattern of the encoder scale 23 on the carriage 3. Is provided. These encoder scale 23 and encoder sensor 24 constitute a linear encoder (main scanning encoder) that detects the movement of the carriage 3.

  Further, a code wheel 25 is attached to the shaft of the transport roller 13 and an encoder sensor 26 including a transmission type photo sensor for detecting a pattern formed on the code wheel 25 is provided. These code wheel 25 and encoder sensor 26 constitute a rotary encoder (sub-scanning encoder) that detects the amount and position of movement of the conveyor belt 12.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, on the downstream side of the driven roller 14 of the conveying belt 12, a paper discharge roller 51 and a spur roller 52 that send the paper 10 on which an image is formed to a paper discharge tray (not shown) are arranged. Yes.

  In this image forming apparatus configured as described above, the sheet 10 is fed from the sheet feeding tray (not shown) onto the charged conveying belt 12 and sucked, and the sheet 10 is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the circular movement of the conveying belt 12. Be transported.

  Therefore, by driving the recording head 4 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 3 in the main scanning direction, ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 10 to record one line. Then, after the sheet 10 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, the next line is recorded. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 10 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is finished, and the paper 10 is discharged to a paper discharge tray (not shown).

  Next, the mounting structure of the discharge detection unit will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory side view for explaining the same.

  The discharge detection unit 100 holds an electrode plate 101 that is an electrode member on which droplets for discharge detection discharged from the recording head 4 land on a holder member 103 that is a holding member made of an insulating material such as plastic. Yes.

  The electrode plate 101 is a conductive metal plate, and is preferably formed of a material that is not easily rusted and hardly deteriorates with respect to ink. The electrode plate 101 can be formed of, for example, SUS304, a copper alloy with Ni plating, or Pd plating. Further, it is preferable to perform a water repellent treatment on the surface of the electrode plate 101 on which the droplets land.

  Here, in order to perform ejection detection with stable detection accuracy, it is preferable that the interval H between the nozzle surface 41 of the recording head 4 and the electrode plate 101 is constant regardless of the nozzle position.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the holder member 103 is fixed to the guide members 1 and 2 holding the carriage 3 by screws 81 and 82, respectively.

  Thereby, the interval H between the nozzle surface 41 of the recording head 4 and the electrode plate 101 can be kept constant regardless of the nozzle position, and the detection accuracy is stabilized.

  Next, an outline of the control unit of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory block diagram of the entire control unit.

  The control unit 500 includes a main control unit 500A including a CPU 501 that controls the entire apparatus, a ROM 502 that stores programs executed by the CPU 501 and other fixed data, and a RAM 503 that temporarily stores image data and the like. Yes.

  Further, the control unit 500 includes a host I / F 506 that controls data transfer with a host (information processing apparatus) 600 such as a PC, an image output control unit 511 that drives and controls the recording head 4, and an encoder analysis unit 512. It has. The encoder analysis unit 512 inputs and analyzes detection signals from the main scanning encoder sensor 24 and the sub-scanning encoder sensor 26.

The control unit 500 also includes a main scanning motor driving unit 513 that drives the main scanning motor 5, a sub scanning motor driving unit 514 that drives the sub scanning motor 16, an I / O 516 between various sensors and actuators 517, and the like. It also has.
It has.

  In addition, the control unit 500 includes a discharge detection unit 531 that measures (detects) an electrical change when a droplet reaches the electrode plate 101 of the discharge detection unit 100 to determine discharge / non-discharge. Further, the control unit 500 includes a cleaning drive unit 532 that drives a drive motor 210 that moves a cleaning unit 200 that cleans the electrode plate 101 of the discharge detection unit 100.

  The image output control unit 511 includes data generation means for generating print data, drive waveform generation means for generating a drive waveform for driving and controlling the recording head 4, and head control signal for selecting a required drive signal from the drive waveform. And data transfer means for transferring print data. Then, a drive waveform, a head control signal, print data, and the like are output to a head driver 510 which is a head drive circuit for driving the recording head 4 mounted on the carriage 3 side, and printing is performed from the nozzles of the recording head 4. Droplets are ejected according to the data.

  The encoder analysis unit 512 includes a direction detection unit 520 that detects the movement direction from the detection signal, and a counter unit 521 that detects the movement amount.

  The control unit 500 controls the movement of the carriage 3 by controlling the driving of the main scanning motor 5 via the main scanning motor driving unit 513 based on the analysis result from the encoder analyzing unit 512. Further, the feeding control of the paper 10 is performed by controlling the driving of the sub-scanning motor 16 via the sub-scanning motor driving unit 514.

  The main control unit 500A of the control unit 500 moves the recording head 4 to perform droplet ejection from a required nozzle of the recording head 4 when performing droplet ejection detection of the recording head 4. Control is performed to determine the droplet discharge state based on the detection signal.

  Next, an outline of the discharge detection unit 531 will be described with reference to the block explanatory diagram of FIG.

  The electrode plate 101 on which droplets for ejection detection from the recording head 4 are ejected is connected to the ejection detection unit 531. The discharge detection unit 531 includes a high voltage power source 701 that applies a high voltage VE (for example, 750 V) to the electrode plate 101. The high voltage power source 701 is on / off controlled by the main controller 500A.

  In addition, a band-pass filter (BPF) 702 that inputs a signal accompanying an electrical change when a droplet reaches the electrode plate 101, an amplifier (AMP) 703 that amplifies the signal, and A / D-converts the amplified signal. And an AD converter (ADC) 704. The conversion result of the ADC 704 is input to the main controller 500A.

  When performing ejection detection, the nozzle surface 41 of the recording head 4 and the electrode plate 101 are opposed to each other, a high voltage VE is applied to the electrode plate 101, and a potential difference is applied between the nozzle surface 41 and the electrode plate 101. At this time, the nozzle surface 41 of the recording head 4 is negatively charged, and the electrode plate 101 is positively charged.

  In this state, one or more droplets for detection are ejected from the recording head 4 for each nozzle.

  At this time, since the ejected liquid droplets are ejected from the nozzle surface 41 of the recording head 4 that is negatively charged, the liquid droplets are also negatively charged. When this lands on the positively charged electrode plate 101, the voltage of the high voltage VE applied to the electrode plate 101 fluctuates slightly.

  Therefore, the fluctuation (AC component) is extracted by the band pass filter 702, amplified by the amplifier circuit 703, A / D converted by the ADC 704, and input to the main controller 500A as a measurement result (detection result).

  The main control unit 500A determines whether or not the measurement result (variation) exceeds a preset threshold value. If the measurement result exceeds the threshold value, the main control unit 500A determines that ejection is in progress and exceeds the threshold value. If not, it is determined as non-ejection.

  In the present embodiment, since each nozzle is ejected and landed on the electrode plate 101, it takes about 0.5 to 10 msec to determine ejection / non-ejection of one nozzle. After the determination of ejection / non-ejection for all nozzles is completed, the high voltage VE applied to the electrode plate 101 is turned off.

  Next, the discharge detection unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 is a perspective explanatory view of the discharge detection unit, FIG. 8 is a perspective explanatory view of FIG. 7 viewed from the opposite direction, and FIG. 9 is a front explanatory view of the same.

  The cleaning unit 200 according to the present embodiment includes a cleaning member 202 that contacts the surface of the electrode plate 101 and removes liquid droplets (waste liquid) attached to the surface of the electrode plate 101 while scraping.

  The cleaning member 202 holds the cleaning unit 203 in contact with the surface of the electrode plate 101, and the guide groove 110 formed on both side surfaces of the holder member 103 along the nozzle arrangement direction (sub-scanning direction). And a guide portion 204 fitted to be movable. Here, the cleaning part 203 and the guide part 204 are integrally formed.

  Then, as a drive mechanism for moving the cleaning member 202, a drive motor 210 attached to one end side in the sub-scanning direction of the holder member 103, a pulley 211 provided on the motor shaft of the drive motor 210, and the other end of the holder member 103 A pulley 212 attached to the section side, and a drive belt 213 wound around the pulley 211 and the pulley 212.

  The drive belt 213 is sandwiched and fixed by the clamp 202a of the cleaning member 202.

  Accordingly, by driving the drive motor 210, the cleaning member 202 reciprocates in the sub-scanning direction (a direction parallel to the nozzle arrangement direction), and the ink droplets landed on the surface of the electrode plate 101 are removed and cleaned. be able to.

  Here, the wiping surface (contact surface) of the cleaning portion 203 of the cleaning member 202 and the surface of the electrode plate 101 are the surfaces of the electrode plate 101 with the upper surface of the guide groove portion 110 formed on the side surface of the holder member 103 as a reference surface. Is defined by the distance L of the surface in contact with. That is, it is defined only by the dimension L of the cleaning member 202 and the dimension L of the holder member 103 including the electrode plate 101.

  With this configuration, the distance between the cleaning member 202 and the electrode plate 101 can be easily and accurately positioned.

  Thereby, the ink droplets discharged to the electrode plate 101 can be reliably removed, and the discharge detection performance can be maintained in a good state for a long period.

  Next, a discharge detection unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a perspective explanatory view of the discharge detection unit, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along the line AA of FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the electrode plate 101 is a columnar member, and the electrode plate 101 and the cleaning member 202 are configured to fit a shaft and a hole.

  By comprising in this way, compared with the said 1st Embodiment, it can position with high precision by the part which does not interpose the holder member 103. FIG.

  Next, a discharge detection unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is an explanatory perspective view of the discharge detection unit.

  In the present embodiment, in the first embodiment, the absorbing member 208 that absorbs ink is disposed on the cleaning terminal side of the cleaning member 202.

  As a result, the ink on the electrode plate 101 scraped off by the cleaning member 202 is absorbed by the absorbing member 208 and the cleaning member 202 can be kept clean, so that the cleaning performance is maintained in a good state for a longer period of time. can do.

  Next, a discharge detection unit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is an explanatory perspective view of the discharge detection unit.

  In the present embodiment, the cleaning means 200 is movable to a cleaning portion 203 that contacts the surface of the electrode plate 101 and guide groove portions 110 that are formed on both side surfaces of the holder member 103 along the nozzle arrangement direction (sub-scanning direction). And a guide portion 204 that fits into the housing. Here, the cleaning unit 203 and the guide unit 204 are formed separately.

  And the cleaning part 203 has the inclined surface 203a which stands | starts up gradually from the cleaning direction front-end | tip edge part on the opposite side to the cleaning direction.

  Thereby, the ink on the electrode plate 101 can be removed more reliably.

  Next, a discharge detection unit according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is an explanatory side view of a main part of the discharge detection unit.

  In the present embodiment, in the fourth embodiment, an absorbing member 209 that absorbs ink is provided above the inclined surface 203 a of the cleaning member 202.

  Thereby, since the ink which goes up the inclined surface 203a at the time of cleaning can be absorbed and held by the absorbing member 209, the cleaning performance can be maintained for a longer period of time.

  In each of the above embodiments, the surface of the cleaning member 202 that faces the electrode plate 101 side is formed of an elastic member such as rubber or elastomer so that the surface of the electrode plate 101 follows the surface even if the flatness of the electrode plate 101 is somewhat poor. Since it can adhere, ink can be removed more reliably.

  Next, a discharge detection unit according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. FIG. 15 is an explanatory perspective view of the discharge detection unit, and FIG. 16 is an explanatory side view illustrating the operation of the wiper member in the discharge detection unit.

  In the present embodiment, the electrode plate 101 is fixedly placed on the holder member 103 with a step between the holder member 103 surface.

  The cleaning unit 200 includes a wiper member 222 that wipes and cleans the surface of the electrode plate 101 and a wiping holding member 221 that holds the wiper member 222.

  Here, for example, the wiping holding member 221 is moved in a direction parallel to the nozzle arrangement direction along the guide groove portion 110 formed on the side surface of the holder member 103 in the same manner as the cleaning member 202 in each embodiment.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 16, the wiper member 222 moves in the wiping direction, the wiper member 222 is bent, and the edge moves while sliding while contacting the surface of the electrode plate 101, so that it is discharged onto the surface of the electrode plate 101. Clean while collecting ink.

  Next, a discharge detection unit according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is an explanatory side view illustrating the discharge detection unit together with the operation of the wiper member.

  In the present embodiment, in the sixth embodiment, the absorbing member 223 is disposed at a point where the wiper member 222 wipes off the surface of the electrode plate 101.

  As a result, the ink adhering to the wiper member 222 during cleaning is absorbed by the absorbing member 223 and the wiper member 222 is cleaned, so that the wiper member 222 can be kept clean for a long period of time, and the cleaning performance of the electrode plate 101 can be improved. Can be maintained.

  In the sixth and seventh embodiments, the wiping direction may be the reverse direction or both directions.

  Next, the wiping direction (wiping direction) by the wiper member will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the wiping operation of the comparative example, and FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the wiping operation of the present embodiment.

  In the following description, the wiper cleaner (cleaning means) is configured to scrape off the waste liquid adhering to the wiper member.

  First, in the comparative example shown in FIG. 19, the wiper member 1202 is formed with the longitudinal direction set as the nozzle arrangement direction. Then, a droplet 800 for discharge detection is discharged onto the electrode plate 101, and the wiper member 1202 is moved in a wiping direction orthogonal to the nozzle arrangement direction to wipe the droplet 800 on the electrode plate 1101.

  At this time, the droplet 800 is a very small droplet amount, and since the wiping is performed in a direction orthogonal to the nozzle arrangement direction, the droplets 800 on the electrode plate 101 are not collected.

  Therefore, it becomes difficult to remove the waste liquid adhering to the wiper member 1202 and the wiping performance is deteriorated.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, a droplet 800 for ejection detection is ejected onto the electrode plate 101, and the wiper member 222 is moved in the nozzle arrangement direction to cause the droplet on the electrode plate 101 to move. Wipe 800.

  In this manner, by moving the wiper member 222 in the nozzle arrangement direction and wiping the droplets 800 on the electrode plate 101, the waste liquid is collected and the waste liquid adhering to the wiper member 222 can be easily removed.

  In the present application, “paper” is not limited to paper, but includes OHP, cloth, glass, a substrate, and the like, and can be attached to ink droplets and other liquids. This includes recording media, recording media, recording paper, recording paper, and the like. In addition, image formation, recording, printing, printing, and printing are all synonymous.

  The “image forming apparatus” means an apparatus that forms an image by discharging a liquid onto a medium such as paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics or the like. In addition, “image formation” not only applies an image having a meaning such as a character or a figure to a medium but also applies an image having no meaning such as a pattern to the medium (simply applying a droplet to the medium). It also means to land on.

  The “ink” is not limited to an ink unless otherwise specified, but includes any liquid that can form an image, such as a recording liquid, a fixing processing liquid, or a liquid. Used generically. For example, DNA samples, resists, pattern materials, resins and the like are also included.

  In addition, the “image” is not limited to a planar image, and includes an image given to a three-dimensionally formed image and an image formed by three-dimensionally modeling a solid itself.

3 Carriage 4, 4a, 4b Recording head 41 Nozzle surface 100 Discharge detection unit 101 Electrode plate (electrode member)
202 Cleaning member 222 Wiper member (wiping member)

Claims (6)

A recording head having a plurality of nozzles for discharging droplets;
Discharge detection means for detecting the presence or absence of droplet discharge from the recording head, and
The discharge detection means includes
An electrode member disposed in a region facing the recording head and having droplets ejected from nozzles of the recording head landed;
A liquid droplet discharged from the nozzle of the recording head is applied to the electrode in a state where a potential difference is applied between the nozzle surface of the recording head and the electrode member, and the nozzle surface of the recording head is opposed to the electrode member. Detecting the electrical change of the electrode member that occurs when landing on the member, detecting the presence or absence of the droplet discharge,
A cleaning means for cleaning the electrode member of the discharge detection means;
The cleaning means includes
A cleaning member for removing the droplets attached to the electrode member;
The cleaning member is movably held by a holding member that holds the electrode member,
An image forming apparatus that moves in a direction parallel to a nozzle arrangement direction with respect to the electrode member.   The cleaning member has a cleaning portion that contacts the surface of the electrode member, and a guide portion that holds the cleaning portion and is movably fitted in a guide groove formed in the holding member. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an absorbing member that absorbs liquid is disposed on a cleaning terminal side of the cleaning member.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member has an inclined surface that gradually rises from the edge portion in the cleaning direction toward the side opposite to the cleaning direction.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the cleaning member includes an absorbing member that absorbs liquid at an upper portion of the inclined surface.   The said cleaning member has a wiping member which contacts and wipes the surface of the electrode member, and a wiping holding member which holds the wiping member to the holding member so that movement is possible. The image forming apparatus according to 1.

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